The Comfort Rooms

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Andre Agassi was my very first tennis idol. Eight grand slam trophies. Former world number one. One of the few who has won a grand slam. Former Olympic champion. A great spokesperson to the sport of tennis.

He was one of a few real tennis celebrities. Rivaled only by the likes of Martina Navratilova, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.

He was a presence on and off the tennis court. If Pistol Pete was the squeaky clean guy, Andre was the exact opposite. He was a tennis match in itself. Different sets, many unforced errors, countless line disputes, awesome returns of service.

If Hollywood could have chosen one player who could best represent them, it would be this Las Vegas native in a heartbeat. He had so much ups and downs, you wouldn't know which one would top them all off.

The tennis great will be releasing his autobiography in a few days and this early, it has become quite the talk of the town. He admitted that he used crystal meth when he hit tennis rock-bottom in 1997. Quite the shock huh? For me, not really though. I knew he must have used some drugs but not crystal meth.

For most, the initial reaction was shock. Then came the deluge of comments, both negative and positive. But for me, the message was clear: the ATP favors some players. They made it secret that he failed a doping test and that became the turning point of his amazing career, heralding an amazing last hurrah from him.

I would want to buy this book. And if this book would soon hit the Philippine shores, I would be among the first who would buy it.

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I used to like Chiz Escudero. He positioned himself as this young politico out to save the country from political turmoil. He made the bashes and comentos requisite for an opposition leader. The new champion of the masses? Sounded like Ramon Magsaysay to me.

He could be this generation's Ninoy Aquino. I won't argue with that. He has got this universal appeal, charming his way from the masses, to the workers, the youth, the young professionals, and the elite.

People want him to run for presidency this early. I think it is one crazy thought. Though yeah, it is true that he is the best, I mean the only decent candidate coming from his erstwhile political party, the Nationalist People's Coalition.

A few hours ago, he announced his intention to get off of his political party. My mind wandered some 80 years ago when Manuel L. Quezon made his famous statement: Loyalty to one's party ends when loyalty to one's country begins. Amazing statement. It shows how a person looks at the broader spectra to see things clearer. I have the video of Chiz' announcement pasted. Courtesy of ABS-CBN. Listen to his 10-minute statement.



Sounded really promising you think? Now, listen to what were the hearsays last night.



Or maybe read this article from ABS-CBNNews.com. Too bad, YouTube still doesn't have Ted Failon's interview of Chiz Escudero regarding the events that happened a few hours ago. Chiz was kind of erratic. He had the signs of a trapo there. His flowery language could not camouflage the fact that he could not answer directly Ted Failon's (and also Karen Davila's) questions thrown at him live on TV Patrol World.

I still like Chiz. Wait for him on 2016 or even 2024. He's still young. Meanwhile, I'm still not sure whether to vote for Noynoy or Manny Villar next year. For sure, my vote will not be placed on an Erap or an unexperienced Chiz.

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Here's a random list of songs that I have been listening to as of late:

*Lauryn Hill - His Eye Is On The Sparrow
*Lauryn Hill - To Zion
*The Fugees - Fugeela
*Lauryn Hill - Can't Take My Eyes Off You
*The Fugees - Killing Me Softly
*Bob Marley / Lauryn Hill - Turn Your Lights Down You
*India Arie - Video
*Mary J Blige - Be Without You
*Macy Gray - I Try
*Brian McKnight - Home
*The Fugees - Ready Or Not
*Third-Eye Blind - Semi Charmed Life
*John Mayer - Gravity
*John Legend - Green Light
*Limp Bizkit - Take A Look Around

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This is supposed to be a story about the movie Almost Famous which happens to be my most favorite movie of all time. Never have I realized that I would be talking about my life here. Here's how my story goes.

Tears are on the brink of falling as I am presently thinking of ways to start my article. But one thing I know sure needs to be written right away -that I can relate alot to William, the teenage journalist who also happens to be the main character of the film.

Whoopie Goldberg's Sister Act II states that if you wake up every morning and all you think about is singing then you are singer. In my case, when I wake up in the morning, all I think about is writing, then therefore I am a writer.

Every morning, I think about being a free spirit. More than being a probability, I therefore am a free spirit. A life that is not bound by rules and measures and lines and of boxes. I want to do things as my impulse and conscience tells me to. Besides, don't we work our best when we can freely do everything we wanted to do without thinking of set rules and regulations? Greatness is measured by set rules and regulations and standards. I know that. But being a free spirit, it is expression and emotions that guides the way for me. If set rules and regulations encompass that of artistry's set emotions and expressions then I guess we're all good. Set rules and regulations are not always set rules and regulations.

Self-discovery is one of life's greatest mysteries. It is both a success and a failure. A tragedy and a triumph. Life will be worth living if we have found our calling. Shallowness allows us to accept what we have not found.

Thank you Almost Famous for that realization.

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This is a darn decent picture of swine artificial insemination. I saw this nightmare when I was on missionary service in Negros.

Me and a Caucasian companion parked our van on a sleepy town called Amlan in Negros. It was a charming little town that had a nice view of the sea and surrounding islands with mountains as its backdrop. If you're imagining we were in the middle of a small village in the Pacific well guess what, we were! Haha! The sea breeze was amazing.

Going back to my story, we came across this town animal center and since I love animals, we began checking out the place. And I thought I heard pig noises so I told my friend that we check that place out. And to my horror, a pig was given (almost) a hand job.

He was a beastly boar, very hairy. Almost the size of a horse. He smells really bad and to begin with, I hate the site of big and hairy boars. Smaller pigs are cute. But the full-grown ones are NOT.

It was the ugliest sight ever. I believe I nearly puked when my friend and I left the place. The sight of men satisfying a burly beast is yucky. And the load! Ewww!

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If this video will make me a better Christian, so be it.

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I don't know about you but I have loved the durian from the very first smell. I can't exactly recall my very first durian taste but passing along Magsaysay Park in Davao City in an air-conditioned car some five years ago one hot summer morning, my olfactories sensed something very wonderful.

I lived in Davao City for a year, and almost everyday, I can smell of durians. It is like the end-all, be-all of all fruits in the place. Any tourist should have at least tried a teaspoonful of it. The fruit is that celebrated in the city that as soon as you get past the Davao International Airport, a huge durian sculpture can be seen.

My elder sister best described the taste and smell of the durian. It was similar to that of the onion. It smells like onions and almost tastes like one. Though the durian is a fruit, but isn't sweet. It's got deadly skin that durian farms in Davao City warn people of falling durian, cause they can cause severe injuries. The Davao Doctor's Hospital doesn't even allow visitors to bring in the fruit. Interesting huh?

Have you ever tried the fruit? If you already did, you're cool. If you haven't, you're chicken skinned. Haha!

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I don't think the metro will never be the same after Ondoy. The magnanimity, the rainfall recorded, the devastation created, the totality of it all, was just overwhelming. I still can't decipher the fact that the water reached Marcos Bridge in Marcos Hi-way in Marikina.

There will always be stories upon stories about people braving the floods and some were unfortunate to witness people drowning and some dead afloat.

If Manila will not learn its lesson through the ravages of Ondoy, then we really are a sorry people.

The call for reforestation, proper urban housing and sewerage has never been this loud. I hope we have learned our lesson.

Ondoy also brought the bayanihan spirit anew, thanks to the efforts of the media, government, and civic groups. Even through our own little efforts, we managed to help others as well. Here's where Barangay Soup Kitchen comes into play.

Barangay Soup Kitchen was borne (as far as Facebook is concerned) out of the efforts of the people behind PenPen Restaurant -that Pinoy comfort food place in the Scout area (in Quezon City). They hold soup kitchens to Ondoy-ravaged communities. They started out with communities in San Mateo, Rizal and I learned that they have a community somewhere in Fairview, Q.C. that they will be holding a soup kitchen as well.

The initiative is asking us all for some donations so that they can continue on with their efforts. No disposables. They want ceramic bowls. They're reusable and does not contribute to trash right? They need money, eggs, malagkit rice, pots, manpower, pan de sal, everything that you can give that would help.

If you want to know more, please see their Facebook Page.

It is never too late to help.

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A few nights ago, I gathered here on The Comfort Rooms my list of Personal Idols. Irregardless of their fields of excellences, I tried to think hard on who really makes me wanna be like them or whoever's life I find really irresistible in finding out about (not to the point wherein people would mistake me as The Talented Mr Ripley...).

Anyways, when the blog post was done, I had only covered four men, who I thought were my idols. They were Nick Joaquin, Kurt Cobain, Erik Cua, and Roger Federer. I know the list wasn't even complete. Out of them four, it was only Kurt Cobain that was too striking for me. The three others failed to capture my inside.

That's why I was thinking again, are there other personal idols out there?

Eureka! (lame word, dang it)

Yesterday was a wednesday and RJ Ledesma was again on The Philippine Star. I know him as also the Editor-In-Chief to UNO Magazine, the less lubricious of the FHMs and the Maxims here in the Philippines. And he made a name for himself (aside from his Royal Tru-Orange days) as being the poster boy of yaya-raised guys here in Pinas.

That reminded me of Dada, my yaya who is now married to her husband. She was my second mum. And we still get in touch by the way.

RJ's column (pardon me for not knowing the title. It has something to do with humming and parallels of the universe) has always been a midweek treat. The wit, humor, sleaziness, and his amazing throng of DOMs and NGSBs are always a welcome treat. His got a gift of gab as well. If you want a Rovilson Fernandez that is less irritating, less full of himself, definitely a lot more tagalog and pinoy sensitivity, more wit and humor, RJ Ledesma it is.

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Here in the Philippines, everybody wants to be white. That's why glutathione pills are such a craze here in the country. People take them to make them fairer. If you have obtained that Edward Cullen fairness, congratulations! If people are starting to mistake you for Michael Jackson, oops! Easy on the pills! You must have taken too much.

You can't really blame the people. It's the same reason why people go for rhinoplasty, or that eye surgery where they make your eyes bigger and put some eyelid folds to your eyes as well, or why people go to salons to perpetually straighten their manes. It is the euro-centric standard of beauty to blame. And oh, people wear freakin' blue contacts as well! Silly right?

I've never taken any of these glutathione pills. And I don't think I ever will even for the sake of its anti-oxidant properties. For one, I'm already maputi for Filipino standards. But even if I'm darker, I wouldn't take these either. For a guy, it is too vain. Why put the effort on making yourself white when you know for a fact that you can never be white? Besides, who freaking cares? We're brown and that's hot.

Oh Pinoy. If you are not Chinese or Japanese or part-Caucasian, just stick to your original skin color. It looks better that way.

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While it is true that I can always have a signatured copy of Stephanie Meyer's book/s and maybe have a little chit-chat with her (an aunt goes to the same church with her), still, it is not enough reason for me to read her book nor watch even a minute of her movie/s.

The word Twilight used to connote fear, thanks to the TV series The Twilight Zone. Now, Twilight means overly-pale skin and Edward Cullen. And oh, hot(?) vampires as well. Jeez, I just don't get the whole Twilight brouhaha. And I wouldn't wanna kill my curiosity by flipping thru the trilogy's pages or watch it thru DVD.

People (I mean girls) have asked me with a big why and a gasp whenever I get to mention that I never watched nor read the trilogy. Ever. It was just too mainstream and blund for my liking. Or maybe too much media hype killed it for me. Or maybe it was really THAT cheesy.

The movie/s and the trilogy were too much tailor-made for the female and teen viewers that the more mature(?) male audience just couldn't get a grip on the hoopla. Almost everything about the movie's gay right? And maybe watching the movie would leave me with the same feeling as if suffering an hour of Days Of Our Lives or maybe any of those Glutathione informercials.

Haha! Glutathione? I think I have found a new topic to write about. For the meantime, Twilight really does suck (hard).

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In light of boredom and wanting to make a post but without having a specific topic in mind, out of randomness, here's Whatever Happened To?

Kumander Nene of PBB Fame

Lady Lee of Eat Bulaga Fame

Beeper, Pocketbell, and EasyCall

Tamagotchi

FVR's Philippines 2000

Erap's Angat Pinoy 2004

Precious Hippolito and Misty Blue of That's Entertainment Fame

Chico and Delamar

Brad Turvey (and his brother)

VJs Mike Kasem and Belinda Panelo of MTV

Fanta Rootbeer

ACA Video

Paskuhan Village

Can you tell me their whereabouts?

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Let me share with you what a Canadian friend (Bangkok-based) mentioned to me thru IM a few nights ago. I'm sharing it in verbatim.

"I mean one thing that was eye opening about everything

is how it brought people together

not just pinoys in philippines

but pinoy people around the world

doing what they can to help

I mean I was taken back by all of it

and to see people using facebook and twitter to help each other

I mean

the storm is horrible and what it did was horrible but inlight of that people didn't let it break them"

Let's all continue being each other's keeper.

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I'm not in the mood to make gay introductions to blog posts. They can get lame, right? That's why I wanna go straight to the point. Its The Comforts Rooms' My Personal Idols.

Nick Joaquin
I didn't know he died way back in 2004. So sorry.
But eversince my consciousness included Quijano de Manila (his pen name), I never really stopped admiring him. All this time, I thought he was still just reclusive. And that reclusiveness of him got me more interested in him.
His got this one poem regarding Ninoy's death that got me more interested in him. I think that was the best poem I have ever read. That poem is both visual and literary art. Its got something to do with centipedes. If you know the poem, kindly help me please.

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Just found myself singing along to this song the whole afternoon with my hands itching to play it in the piano.